Is Samsung on the verge of releasing the prime Galaxy S5 at last?

In the secretive world of smartphones, relatively speaking, rumours of what we're going to see as the next blockbuster device are always on the go, as bloggers speculate about what we're going to be able to get our hands on next.

However, while some rumours will fizzle out when companies deny the existence of a certain piece of technology, there is one that has been unrelenting this year in spite of its alleged developer's insistence that it is not working on anything new.

Ever since Samsung unleashed the Samsung Galaxy S5 in April, rumours have been rife that it is looking to release a more premium version of this device in order to address the criticisms that the flagship was not as strong in terms of build quality as other phones on the market such as the Sony Xperia Z2 and the HTC One M8 – and it seems they may have been right after all.

At various times it has been rumoured to be called the Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime and the Samsung Galaxy F, but leaks online have shown alleged screenshots of a new device that appears to carry the name Samsung Galaxy Alpha.

However, it might be slightly different to what we expected to see from the Korean firm. Most expected it to come packing a better build quality and a metal casing, but the post on Taiwanese site Tinhte appears to show a device that comes with a plastic rather than metal chassis.

And in terms of general look and feel, the phone in the leaked images actually looks more like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 than it does a Galaxy, although it is something of a hybrid, with the back panel being more reminiscent of the latter.

So could this be its way to challenge Apple when the Cupertino firm releases the new age of iPhones this autumn? Apple is expected to be bringing both a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch smartphone to the table, so it could well be the case that Samsung has decided to bring together its phone and phablet to create something that could well be a big challenger to the iPhone.